Before I started my diploma in
Republic Polytechnic, I never had the opportunity to own a console or laptop.
All I had were board games and my precious home PC. Basically I spent my time
playing games on websites like postopia.com, Yahoo games and other indie game
websites. In HP computers, at times they provide free games for a short period
of time.
At that time, I decided to try
out cooking academy game. At that time, I enjoyed playing it as it was straight
forward and I was a fan of cooking. It wasn’t like a cooking game you will find
in random game websites. It made me feel like as though I really walked through
an interactive tutorial. Once I ran out of Wildtangent coins, I stopped playing
it.
Recently, I bought “Cooking
Academy Fire and Knives” from Steam because I used to play the game and I
wondered whether would I still enjoy playing the game. “Cooking Academy Fire
and Knives” consist of Cooking Academy (First game in the series), Cooking
Academy 2: World Cuisine, Cooking Academy 3 Recipe for Success.
After playing for a while, I
realised that I still enjoyed playing and didn’t find myself disliking it to
any bits. (It could be partly because for my love food.) I believe it’s because
the game is very suitable for casual gamer. There are few reasons why.
Firstly, the game is simple to
play. The game is not complicated. It’s very straightforward and easy to play.
All player is required to do is to choose a recipe they would like to cook and
start cooking. Even if they are not familiar with the recipe, the gameplay
progress you through step by step.
For an example, if you are supposed
to dice onions, there will be arrows to guide you on how to slice the onions. These
simple indications allow player to have a better understanding of the game,
thus giving them a positive urge to continue playing the game.
That makes a game simple to play
for a causal player as it is not too complicated. Thus, the game can be addictive
for the player.
Secondly, the game is realistic to a certain
extend. It’s not like other cooking games where things get a little different.
The recipes are very similar to the actual ones and you also get to learn
different cooking methods. I discovered an interesting recipe when I played
Cooking Academy 2. Out of curiosity, I went to search for it on Google. True
enough, such recipe exist and the ingredients provided in the game were the
same as the recipe.
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| Name of the dish and picture |
Casual gamers, who have interest
in cooking, would definitely like this game a lot. I recommended this game to a
colleague (who is a student too). She loves cooking and she is also a causal
gamer. When I told her about this, she decided to go and play. Within a week,
she had progressed through the game more than I did.
Finally, there is a clear
progression and sense of achievement in the game. The game has a very clear
progression in the game. If it is the player’s first time playing the game,
then only one section of the recipes are available for the player. Once player
hits a minimum criteria and progresses well through the game (gets C- grade and
above), he or she is able to unlock the next set of recipes.
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| Exams are only available once you have completed most of the recipes |
This is a form of
progression where a player’s effort and achievement allows to progress more
through the game. Player then able to understand that they are doing well and feel
motivated to play more.
Due to these reasons, it appeals
to casual players like me. Cooking
academy is a solid and polished game with all the necessary elements of a 2D
game. To me Cooking academy would definitely be an ideal casual game I would
recommend to other fellow causal gamers out there.
